The parable of the
laborers is a parable of the kingdom, so it
pertains to those Christians who will enter into
the kingdom of heaven. In simple terms, it
pertains to those Christians who will reign and
rule with Jesus Christ in the millennial kingdom
because they have performed works worthy of
reward. When reading the parable, please note
that all who receive a just recompense of reward
have worked in the Lord’s vineyard—even if it
was just a short time. The primary
teaching of this parable is that it is not the
length of time that a Christian works in serving
the Lord, but the attitude of his heart at the end
in working diligently and leaving the rewards up
to Him. The key is how a person ends his
Christian life, and not what takes place at the
beginning or at the middle. The Scriptures are
clear that a Christian can spend time doing the
Lord’s work, and then fall away from the faith
before the end. This Christian is still
spiritually saved, but he loses his reward of
reigning and ruling with the Lord in the
millennial kingdom. It is important to note that
this parable addresses only those Christians who
remain faithful to the end in working in the
Lord’s vineyard. It is also important to note
that all receive their just recompense of
reward—even though some were chastised for their
attitudes. This parable should be encouraging to
those Christians who have spent much of their
Christian life in idleness, but have been
called by the Lord in this eleventh hour to
work in His vineyard. It is never too late to
begin in earnest to work in the Lord’s
vineyard. This parable was greatly
encouraging to me 33 years ago when I began to
serve the Lord in earnest after many years of
idleness. It is clear from the parable that the
ones who went later to work in the vineyard had
not offered themselves earlier in the day. We will now
take a close look at each verse in the parable.
(Mat 20:1 KJV) For the kingdom of
heaven is like unto a man that is an
householder, which went out early in the
morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.This verse
clarifies that the parable involves entrance
into the kingdom of heaven and not simply spirit
salvation and entrance into heaven. All
Christians will enter heaven, but not all
Christians will enter into the kingdom of
heaven. To enter into the kingdom of heaven
means to enter into the king’s dominion, and
this simply means to enter into the reign and
rule of Jesus Christ. It does not mean simply to
go to heaven as is commonly thought. (Mat 20:2 KJV) And when he had
agreed with the labourers for a penny a day,
he sent them into his vineyard.

In the
parable, the laborers who agreed to work early
in the morning represent those Christians who
offer themselves as workers in the Lord’s
vineyard very early in their Christian life.
This would include most of the official and/or
career workers in the Christian Church. They are
the career professionals who begin early in
their Christian life and hold longstanding
positions in the Church. This would include
positions of leadership and honor in the Church,
but it would also include career nursery
workers, servers, deacons, elders and the like.
They are the under-shepherds over the flock of
Jesus Christ who hold formal positions in the
Church. They are the pastors, ministers of
education, ministers of music and other career
workers in the local churches. They understand
the importance of works and the Lord’s promise
of reward for those works. The Lord needs
career Church workers who serve Him diligently
their whole life. They will receive their just
recompense of reward at the Judgment Seat of
Christ. However, their attitude at the end of
their Christian life is the key to the order of
their reward. The Christian who works diligently
his whole Christian life, but ends his Christian
life with a superior attitude toward those
Christians who began working for the Lord later
in their Christian lives will be greatly
surprised at the order of reward. This speaks of
both the Firstfruits Rapture and the Main
Harvest Rapture, which is the order of reward.
Many Christians who worked faithfully their
entire life may not be resurrected—or translated
if they are living at the time—at the
Firstfruits Rapture. The point of separation—no
pun intended—is the need for chastisement that
will be necessary for many Christians at the
time of the Firstfruits Rapture. It is very
important in the parable to note that the
workers who received their reward last—at the
Main Harvest Rapture—also received chastisement
for their attitude. It is very
important to note that the laborers who began
working for the Lord later in the day (i.e.,
later in their Christian lives) maintained a
different attitude than the career workers. At
this point, it is important to note that there
will almost certainly be career workers in the
Church who serve the Lord their whole lives, and
end up with an attitude of humility and love
toward the eleventh hour laborers. However, this
will be the exception rather than the rule.
It is often the
case that those career or official workers who
have devoted their lives to the service of the
Lord grow complacent in their work. They become
contented to a fault, self-satisfied and
unconcerned about their diligence. In addition,
many of these leaders in positions of leadership
and honor in the Church on earth begin to take
it for granted that they will realize the
highest positions of leadership and honor in the
kingdom of heaven. Their error is to assume that
length of service equates with greater reward.
This rule is true in the realm of mankind where
career workers receive greater rewards because
of length of service. It is called seniority,
career status, or veteran status. This rule is
so ingrained in the affairs of man, that most
assume it will be true in the kingdom of heaven.
The teaching of this parable contradicts this
commonplace attitude. The Scriptures
are clear that many in the Church who are in the
important positions of honor and leadership
during the Church Age will not be in the
important positions of honor and leadership in
the coming kingdom. The Scriptures also teach
that many that are unknown and least important
in the Church while on the earth will attain to
high positions in the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 20:3
KJV) And he went out about the third
hour, and saw others standing idle in the
marketplace, In this verse
the Steward goes out when a fourth of the day is
past to gather other workers. At this time other
workers have shown themselves in the market and
demonstrate their willingness to work. It is
important to note here that the time of day that
the workers present themselves in the market for
work represents the relative time in a
Christian’s life that he begins to serve the
Lord with due diligence. Some Christians never
present themselves to work in the Lord’s
vineyard. Others do so early in their Christian
life, and still others do so at the end of their
Christian life. As stated above, the ones who
presented themselves early in their Christian
life are the career workers who work their whole
lives for the Lord. (Mat 20:4 KJV) And said unto
them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and
whatsoever is right I will give you. And they
went their way. It is key in
this verse that they have agreed to work for the
Lord and leave the pay or reward up to him. The
workers were just glad to be working and they
were trusting in the Steward to pay them what
was fair. It is important to note that there is
no attitude of what their pay should be at the
end of the day. (Mat 20:5 KJV) Again he went out
about the sixth and ninth hour, and did
likewise.The Steward
goes again to the market place when the day is
half over and when the day is three-fourths
over, and he also hires workers for the Lord’s
vineyard, and they also are trusting in the
Steward to pay them what was fair. These also
have no competitive attitude with the other
workers. (Mat 20:6 KJV) And about the
eleventh hour he went out, and found others
standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand
ye here all the day idle? In the eleventh
hour or the very end of the day the Steward
hires additional workers to work in the
vineyard, and they also trust the Steward to pay
what is fair. (Mat 20:7
KJV) They say unto him, Because no man
hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye
also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is
right, that shall ye receive. This verse goes a little deeper in
explaining that the earthly stewards or
under-shepherds of God’s Church did not see
these eleventh hour workers as worthy of hire.
This reminds me of my own situation where I
desired to serve the Lord using my talents, but
the leaders of the local churches did not see me
worthy to work in the local church. I studied
the Bible diligently to prepare myself for
service, but I was literally cast out of several
local churches, and my family and friends as
well. Since no one would allow us to work in the
local churches, we started our own ministry and
wound up in a home church working in the Lord’s
vineyard, which is the Church at large. The members of
our home church are literally outcasts of the
local churches, and we are few in number and
poor in resources. We trust in the Lord to
reward us for our labors of love. We have no
idea how we will be rewarded in the kingdom, but
this parable, and especially this verse, gives
me great hope. As stated in the above verse, “No
man hath hired us!” Since “no man” saw us as fit
or worthy to work in the Lord’s vineyard, the
Steward personally sent us to work in the Lord’s
vineyard. The Steward, of course, is the Lord
Jesus Christ and the Lord of the vineyard is God
the Father. (Mat 20:8 KJV) So when even was
come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his
steward, Call the labourers, and give them
their hire, beginning from the last unto the
first.This verse
depicts the end of the Church Age and the
Firstfruits and the Main Harvest Raptures of the
Church. The laborers represent all of the Church
that will be rewarded with the kingdom of
heaven. It is very important to see that there
are two groups being rewarded at different
times. The first group to be rewarded represents
those who will be rewarded in the Firstfruits
Rapture. The second group to be rewarded
represents those who will be rewarded in the
Main Harvest Rapture of the Church.

“When even was
come” is the end of the Church Age. The Lord of
the vineyard is God the Father and the Steward
is Jesus Christ. The “Call” is the shout for
both the Firstfruits Rapture and the Main
Harvest Rapture, since the “last” will be called
first, and the “first” will be called last. The
Greek word for “last” also means the lowest or
least of
the laborers. These are those in the Church who
are the least in importance, and often they are
the ones who have served the Lord for the
shortest periods of time. The Greek word for
“first” also means the chief ones in order of
importance. These are the ones who held the
highest or most important positions in the
Church while on the earth. (Mat 20:9 KJV) And when they came
that were hired about the eleventh hour, they
received every man a penny. This verse
depicts the time of the Firstfruits Rapture when
those who are the least important ones in the
Church—while on the earth—will be rewarded.
Remember that these are the ones who were not
seen as fit or worthy by the under-shepherds to
work in the Lord’s vineyard. (Mat 20:10
KJV) But when the first came, they
supposed that they should have received
more; and they likewise received every man a
penny.Again, it is
important to note that the ones hired first come
at a later time to receive their reward. These
are the official or career workers and stewards
of the local churches who had agreed to work
early in their Christian life. These are the
pastors, teachers and workers in the local
churches who began their Christian lives working
for the Lord in His vineyard. These are the ones
who never got caught up in the vilest of sins.
These are the ones who looked down upon the
Christian who had a problem with alcohol, drugs,
sexual proclivity, or other fleshly sins. These
are the ones who looked down upon the Christian
who went through the heartbreak of divorce,
detoxification from alcohol and drugs, demonic
oppression, financial hardships, and numerous
other problems with the old flesh nature and
satanic deception. These are the ones that
“never sinned very much” and spent their life in
church from early childhood. These are the ones
that see themselves as being better Christians
than most Christians, simply because of the
length of their service to the Lord.
Unfortunately, these Christians failed to see
the importance of a humble heart, a heart that
loves the Lord with the deepest passion, a heart
that is filled with thanksgiving for the
forgiveness of the vilest of sins, and a heart
that is filled with praise for a merciful Savior
who even forgives divorce. These are the
Christians that do not understand the following
passage of Scripture:

(Luke 7:39-50 KJV) Now when the
Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake
within himself, saying, This man, if he were a
prophet, would have known who and what manner
of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is
a sinner. {40} And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee.
And he saith, Master, say on. {41} There was a
certain creditor which had two debtors: the
one owed five hundred pence, and the other
fifty. {42} And when they had nothing to pay,
he frankly forgave them both. Tell me
therefore, which of them will love him most?
{43} Simon answered and said, I suppose that
he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto
him, Thou hast rightly judged. {44} And he
turned to the woman, and said unto Simon,
Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine
house, thou gavest me no water for my feet:
but she hath washed my feet with tears, and
wiped them with the hairs of her head. {45}
Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since
the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my
feet. {46} My head with oil thou didst not
anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet
with ointment. {47} Wherefore I say unto thee,
Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for
she loved much: but to whom little is
forgiven, the same loveth little. {48} And he
said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. {49} And
they that sat at meat with him began to say
within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth
sins also? {50} And he said to the woman, Thy
faith hath saved thee; go in peace. (Mat 20:11 KJV) And when they had
received it, they murmured against the goodman
of the house, In this verse
the career or official workers feel resentment
and complain against the Lord because of two
things addressed in the following verse. (Mat 20:12 KJV) Saying, These
last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast
made them equal unto us, which have borne the
burden and heat of the day. First, these
workers complain that they received the same
reward of entrance into the kingdom as the
workers called at the eleventh hour. Second, the
first workers had not only worked longer, but
they had borne the “the burden and heat of the
day”. This is an allusion to having gone through
the tribulation period. “Burden” refers to the
trouble and toilsome effort expended during the
tribulation period, and the heat refers to the
severe persecution that will be endured. (Mat 20:13 KJV) But he answered
one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no
wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a
penny? The Steward
reminds the workers that they had agreed to work
“for a penny” so they received justice in being
paid the correct amount. Even though these
laborers worked in the vineyard of the Lord,
there was clearly an attitude of superiority and
self-righteousness over the other workers,
thinking that they deserved more than the other
workers. This is the difference between the
Philadelphia church and the Laodicean church.
The Philadelphia church sees itself as being
spiritually poor, but the Lord sees it as being
spiritually rich. The Laodicean church sees
itself as being spiritually rich, but the Lord
sees it as being wretched, miserable, poor,
naked and blind. (Mat 20:14 KJV) Take that thine
is, and go thy way: I will give unto this
last, even as unto thee. This verse
reflects the sovereignty of the Master, in
rewarding according to His judgment. These
verses clearly show that the attitude of service
in the Lord’s vineyard is very important in the
“just recompense of reward”. I have believed
for many years that the earthly stewards of the
Church are going to be very surprised at the
Judgment Seat of Christ when the rewards are
given out to God’s servants. The ones seen as
unfit for service in the Lord’s work will
receive the same reward as the stewards receive,
and many of the stewards will have to bear the
toilsome effort and severe persecution of the
tribulation period. Many who thought they would
be first to receive their reward will actually
be last in receiving their reward, and they will
be rebuked for their attitude. (Mat 20:15 KJV) Is it not lawful
for me to do what I will with mine own? Is
thine eye evil, because I am good? This verse
demonstrates the sovereignty of God in rewarding
his workers as He sees fit. It also shows the
envy in the career or official workers because
they received the same reward as those that
performed less work. This confirms that
it is not so much the length and difficulty of
the work as it is the attitude of heart in
serving the Lord. The primary
difference is the order of reward as the least
important workers will be rewarded at the
Firstfruits Rapture, and the most important
workers will be rewarded at the Main Harvest
Rapture. It is highly significant that those who
are rewarded at the Main Harvest Rapture also
receive some chastisement. This appears to be
the primary difference between those who are
rewarded at Firstfruits and those who are
rewarded at the Main Harvest. This demonstrates
the importance of calling upon the Lord to
cleanse us daily and of the necessity of getting
the leaven out of our lives during the Church
Age. This is seen in the following passage of
Scripture: (1 Cor 11:28-32 KJV) But let a
man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that bread, and drink of that cup. {29} For he
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
and drinketh damnation to himself, not
discerning the Lord's body. {30} For this
cause many are weak and sickly among you, and
many sleep. {31} For if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged. {32} But
when we are judged, we are chastened of the
Lord, that we should not be condemned with the
world. (Mat 20:16 KJV) So the last shall
be first, and the first last: for many be
called, but few chosen. This verse
summarizes the parable and it teaches two
important truths. The first is that those who
are least important in the Church on the earth
will be raptured in the Firstfruits, and those
who are most important will be raptured in the
Main Harvest Rapture. This verse also
teaches that many of those who held the most
important positions of leadership and honor in
the Church on the earth will hold the least
positions in the kingdom of heaven, and vice
versa. Many Christians who are virtually unknown
in the Church on the earth will hold the most
important positions in the heavenly kingdom.

What about you? You may or may not be a
high-level worker in your church; you may be an
archbishop, pastor, teacher or deacon or minister
of music. You may simply mow the lawn or
hand out bulletins on Sunday morning. You
may have no position in the church and have just
enough energy to open your Bible or to pray.
However, you understand that Jesus could return
very soon and you want to be with Him and to be
part of His Kingdom.

You can. To be a part of Christ's Kingdom,
you need to be faithful and to serve Him with a
humble heart. It's not so much the
number of good works that you perform over your
lifetime, but it's a humble attitude and a love
for God and His people at the end of the age
that's important to Him. Jesus will look at
every Christian's heart just before He returns for
the First Fruits Rapture. If you are
watching for His return and are praying for His
return and if you are humbly serving Him, then you
will be a member of the First Fruits Rapture at
Pentecost. If you are performing works in
the church but they are done for your glory and
not God's glory, you will not be a member of the
church that will be taken to Heaven by Jesus
before the start of the Tribulation. It's
what's in your heart right now that Christ is
looking at. Jesus said to the seven churches
in Revelation:

(Revelation 2:1 ASV 1901)
To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These things saith he that holdeth the seven
stars in his right hand, he that walketh in
the midst of the seven golden candlesticks:

In the Book of Revelation Jesus is walking among
the seven churches and is observing our attitude
and the works that we do. The seven stars
Jesus is holding in His right hand are the pastors
of the seven churches and the seven golden
candlesticks are the church congregations that He
is observing. Thus, He knows everything we
do including our attitude. All--pastors,
teachers and church members need to be listening
to His admonishments to be faithful and to obey
what He tells us. He knows what the church
leaders are thinking and the works they are
doing. Because He is watching us right now,
we should be as faithful to Him as we can possibly
be. The 11th hour is here.
Jesus is watching us right now, so we should be
watching and praying for His Return.